I’ve always wanted to see this movie once. Today I finally saw it; I should have just done it a long time ago. It was, for my taste, a great movie! Philosophical, and a bit inspiring. There’s quite some philosophical stuff to talk about concerning this movie.

I think every viewer would ask himself/herself this question: would I have taken the green pill and continue living in the fake, but happy world, or would I have taken the red pill and face the harsh but real world? If I were in that exact situation Neo was in I would have taken the red pill, because I would otherwise forever continue living in this world knowing there is a real one too and being forever curious about the latter one. Human curiosity just is too strong. Actually, in the given situation it was already decided for you which pill you would take, as the fact that there is more than this world was already exposed to you at the time. How could you than choose to continue normal life with that knowledge in mind? It’s like the garden of eden: in the act of planting the tree of good and evil in the garden, saying Adam and Eve are not allowed to eat from it, God introduced the notion of good and evil Himself – even before one of them had eaten from the tree.

Today I regot and enriched an insight I once got. I talked to my brother about fear. (We were talking about social fear, so shyness and stuff.) He said I should resist it, get over it. But than I said fear must have it’s use. We don’t have it for nothing. Maybe shyness has it’s advantages. If we are shy, we are less likely to get hurt. ‘Get hurt, how?’ he asked. I couldn’t grasp the answer tot that question.

I thought of the insight again a time when I saw a few young kids outside on the street. I felt how I, someone much older and much more developed, had the power to damage/influence/manipulate them psychologicaly. These young ones were vulnerable to psychological damage or manipulation by adults. It’s good for them to be shy in front of (unknown) adults; it’s a way to stay out of the latter’s range. (I’ve been shy in front of adults myself during childhood; maybe the reason was this, to protect myself from bad influences.)

Today we, our family, had some 16 year olds (who are pretty much unfamiliar with us) for dinner. They didn’t say much at the table, they seemed a bit shy. I wondered why, and I thought about this idea again: to protect themselves psychologicaly. Despite their age, I felt they were vulnerable in front of for example a 22 year old like me. (For example, they act cool and stuff and I could see them as kids; my gaze could hit their ‘cover’.) Than I thought of me not being shy anymore as I used to. I’ve got another hypothesis of why this is, but I suddenly saw a new solution to the puzzle: I, now 22 AND having built up a ‘psychological armor’ and sufficient confidence tot take psychological blows, do not have such a need for shyness anymore. When you grow older, eventually you are psychological grown up and strong enough to shed some of the shyness.

I wanted to write this insight down like this, lest I forget. And also so you can process it too.

PS: maybe shy teenagers can have peace with their shyness with above idea in mind. They can embrace their natural ways, knowing everything has it’s advantage and seeing the possibility their fear will diminish in the future.

I am a 22 year old philosophystudent from the Netherlands. Sometimes I’ve got nice insights I want to share. Writing this blog is also a great way for me to practice my writingskills. I’d love to have comments from you! I will not only talk, I will also listen.